A main technical and economic difference to #matrix servers/clients:
The family of #deltachat apps uses #chatmail servers as ephemeral message transports that know nothing and forget everything: Servers don't store group metadata or cryptographic identities
and delete messages after download by default. In effect, a 30EUR/month #chatmail server with 10K's of active users hums along with 2% IO and CPU pressure, 1GB RAM and negligible disk usage. No Pro-version or Kybernetes needed to scale ;)
chatmail
We are basically doing what #signal and in particular moxie refused to do or declares impossible: federation.
Both #email and #activitypub ecosystems are all about federation.
However, #deltachat is vertically centralized in that all UIs use the same #rust core which implements all networking, encryption, chat/group/message logic in a single centralized place. The now 40+ #chatmail mail relay network is driven from centralized code.
At each level replication and federation is built in.
Edited 58d ago